Alternative name: Bocage's Longbill
- Motacilla bocagii
Amaurocichla bocagii
Identification
11 cm. A short-tailed small bird of the forest-floor.
- Uniform dark brown top of head and upperparts, including upperwing and tail
- Dark brown side of head with faint pale supercilium
- Rufous-tinged ear-coverts
- Whitish chin and centre of throat
- Pale rufous-brown side of throat, neck side and flanks
- Grey-buff belly and undertail-coverts
- Long, straight dark brown bill
Sexes similar, juveniles undescribed.
Distribution
Africa: found locally in the forests of southern Sao Tome.
Locally common but has a very small range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
The scientific name is also spelled bocagei.
Formerly place in genus Amaurocichla.
Habitat
Undergrowth and floor of moist lowland forest. Usually around moss-covered rocks and fallen logs near edges of rivers and streams.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on small arthropods. Forages mainly on the ground similar to a pipit. Often seen picking and probing by streamsides, under gravel, fallen leaves and on rocks.
Breeding
No information available.
Movements
This is a sedentary species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved March 2015)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Sao Tome Shorttail. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 2 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Sao_Tome_Shorttail
